MONTREAL - One of the architects of Quebec's violent 1990s biker war expressed remorse for the murders he committed before the National parole Board, but it wasn't enough to get him out of prison.

The board denied parole this week to Gilles (Trooper) Mathieu, a onetime member of the elite Nomads chapter of the Hells Angels. He's serving a 15-year prison term for helping the Nomads assassinate rivals in the Rock Machine gang during a war that killed more than 175 people, including innocent bystanders.

Wearing a white t-shirt and jeans, the 60-year-old publicly apologized for his role as moneyman for the Nomads. He said he no longer goes by the nickname Trooper and has had his biker tattoos removed. He also said he no longer talks to bikers.

"I'm a man who regrets his past life," Mathieu told commissioners Suzanne Chartrand and Michel Pallascio at a prison north of Montreal, where he has been held for six years.

He admitted to handling paperwork and doling out cash to members of Nomads death squads who would buy weapons to murder their enemies. Mathieu said he enjoyed a lavish lifestyle that allowed him to bury any feelings of guilt.

"I turned a blind eye," he admitted. "I agreed to do it because I had so many advantages. I had enormous advantages."

But said he eventually realized that it was wrong to aid and abet murders.

"(Later) I saw what was happening, I found it dreadful." He added: "I am very happy that I never had to take anyone's life."

Mathieu was the first member of the Nomads to be sentenced to prison following a massive police sweep against the Hells Angels in 2001. The Nomads were created in 1995 by notorious Hells Angels kingpin Maurice (Mom) Boucher to solidify the gang's stranglehold on their lucrative drug territory.

Mathieu will once again be up for parole in 2013. He says that if he's released, he hopes to move to a halfway house in Montreal before setting up in the country to work the land.

It's likely that his former boss will only be able to dream of such a future. Maurice Boucher is serving a life sentence for ordering the deaths of two prison guards.